From the Ming Dynasty, we will conquer the world

The overall structure of the Earthly Immortal Realm is like a disc, but it is also divided into upper and lower parts. The bottom part is what is usually called the Netherworld, also known as the "Yin World Heavens".

When the emperors created the land of the Immortal Realm from chaos, and then moved the Daoist temple from the "Mysterious and Boundless World," the Netherworld naturally emerged.

Once the conflict between the Heavenly Court and the Buddhist Kingdom came to an end, the cycle of life and death for all beings in the Earthly Immortal Realm would be completely controlled by Mount Ling.

As soon as Xu Xing entered, he saw a gloomy land, with thick, leaden clouds that seemed to solidify like a chilling iron curtain.

In the very center of heaven and earth, there lies a deep, dark, and gloomy rift, where a chilling wind sweeps through, as if countless tragically deceased souls are wailing within.

As Xu Xing stepped into the Netherworld, everywhere he looked, there was an aura of yin energy. The sky above his head did not appear very high, with only layers of ghostly fire floating above it.

On this desolate land, a long river runs from east to west, flowing slowly; this is what Buddhist scriptures refer to as the River of Three Crossings.

Countless ghosts waded through the river, chanting Buddhist mantras:

"World Honored One, World Honored One, your disciple has committed countless evil deeds and fallen into the three evil realms. Now I sincerely take refuge in you, please World Honored One, deliver me! World Honored One, deliver me!"

Further away, there are six-sided wheel-like void realms suspended in the air. In each realm, the void structure is layered and clearly ordered, which is the so-called six realms of reincarnation in the Buddhist kingdom.

Just as Xu Xing saw in the "Mysterious and Boundless World", in each of the six cycles of reincarnation there is a Buddha image, whether sitting, standing or lying down. Although the postures are different, the Buddha's power is connected and suppresses the five turbid energies in the Netherworld.

Beneath the six-sided wheel lies a colossal beast, as large as a mountain. This beast has a tiger's head, a single horn, dog's ears, a dragon's body, a lion's tail, and unicorn's feet. Its mane is snow-white and crystal clear like jade. It does not resemble a living being, but rather a sculpture made of jade, pure and solemn.

On its back sits a Bodhisattva, whose face and body are pure white, wearing a heavenly crown, holding a jewel in his left hand and a staff in his right, with a dignified appearance, exuding great compassion and great concentration.

But those eyes, which always looked down upon the underworld, were devoid of any light, only an emptiness that reflected the eighteen levels of hell, yet revealed no true nature.

Upon seeing the Bodhisattva's image, Xu Xing immediately understood his identity: it was none other than Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, who vowed to liberate all sentient beings in the six realms and relieve all suffering before attaining Buddhahood.

However, this compassionate, powerful, and infinitely magical Bodhisattva has now completely passed away, and his Dharma body is suppressed by the six realms of reincarnation, unable to be liberated.

Although Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva also follows the path of vows, his vows are not for seeking power in the future, but rather for self-limitation, seeking only to enlighten the demons of hell.

Whether this Bodhisattva sought a higher position or had ulterior motives, he ultimately fulfilled all his vows and fell in the netherworld.

Xu Xing had also created the "Dragon and Elephant Suppressing Prison" technique, which also had the intention of saving all living beings. Seeing this scene, he couldn't help but feel moved.

With a flick of his right finger, Fahai flew out like a round pearl, landing on the forehead of the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva image.

Fahai's vision blurred for a moment, and when he opened his eyes again, he was surrounded by a dazzling light, and he heard Xu Xing's voice transmission in his ears:
"Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva entered Nirvana to protect the netherworld. Since you have cultivated the Ksitigarbha Dharma and made a great vow, you shall inherit his mantle..."

Before he finished speaking, Xu Xing flicked his finger again, shooting the other immortals into the Six Paths of Reincarnation, while he himself disappeared like a dream, vanishing into the Netherworld and heading far away to the upper levels of the Earthly Immortal Realm.

Although many immortals and gods are suppressed in the Six Paths of Reincarnation, there are not many beings of the Emperor level among them, making it relatively safe and allowing Fahai and others to explore it.

The Underworld Kingdom of Mount Tai is more dangerous because it contains the True Lord of the Pure Source Mystic Path and the Victorious Fighting Buddha, as well as the body left behind by the Earth Emperor. It would be better for Xu Xing to take action himself.

As soon as Xu Xing left, a candle suddenly lit up in the very center of the layers of dark clouds, like molten gold flowing in the clouds, extremely brilliant.

"Which senior brother has come from afar? How can Huang Mei not pay his respects?!"

A monk dressed in yellow robes arrived as soon as the sound came, slowly descending from the dark clouds in the sky. He had a well-proportioned figure, skin as delicate as jade, and a handsome face. His phoenix eyes were long, narrow, bright, and radiant.

He clasped his hands together, looked at Fahai, who sat serenely between the eyebrows of Ksitigarbha, and raised an eyebrow in surprise:
“This senior brother doesn’t seem to be a disciple of Master Da Mie, yet I wonder where he comes from. The Netherworld is of great importance, and without the World Honored One’s decree, this humble monk would not dare to act rashly.”

This monk, who called himself Huangmei, was once a pageboy under the future Buddha. He had listened to every debate and sermon between Maitreya and the Great Extinction Tathagata, and was thus led astray from the right path.

When the Great Extinction Tathagata appeared and killed Maitreya with a single punch, Huangmei simply followed this senior master.

Da Mie had always disliked the hypocritical faces of those bald men on Mount Ling who claimed to be "saving all living beings," so he greatly admired Huang Mei, who had "reformed his ways," and taught him a few supernatural powers, keeping him under his tutelage to listen to the sutras.

Huang Mei's magical power was already quite good, and since following Da Mie, his supernatural abilities have advanced by leaps and bounds. Just then, the Buddhas of Mount Ling were undergoing Nirvana, and Wu Tian had no one to use under his command, so he was assigned to guard the Netherworld and watch over the immortals and gods.

Back when Huang Mei was on his journey to the West with the Victorious Fighting Buddha, he dared to forge the Little Thunder Temple and impersonate the World Honored One. Now that his supernatural powers have increased, he has become more cautious.

Because he knew very well that neither Wutian nor Damie were reasonable people.

If you impersonate the Buddha, the worst that can happen is that Maitreya will take you back to the Pure Land to discipline you. But if you offend these two, the best outcome would be the complete annihilation of your body and soul, and eternal damnation. If you are not careful, you will suffer a fate worse than death.

Therefore, even though Huang Mei had already sensed the authentic Ksitigarbha Dharma aura emanating from Fahai, he still had to ask repeatedly to avoid making any mistakes.

Of course, this was also because Huang Mei was confident that even if it took some time, the other party would never pose any threat to him.

Fahai could also sense Huang Mei's earth-shattering power; every word he spoke could shake the magical fluctuations of the Netherworld. He did not communicate with him at all, but instead focused on comprehending the Buddhist aura left behind by Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

Although this person only attained the Bodhisattva level, his supernatural powers and magical abilities were no less than those of any Buddha. Even the World-Honored One himself said that before Shakyamuni Buddha passed away and Maitreya Buddha was born, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva would preside over all affairs of Vulture Peak.

Even if it is just his legacy, it is an incredibly generous gift for Fahai today.

Seeing Fahai's attitude, Huang Mei's eyes flashed with anger. He realized that this person was neither from Xiniu Hezhou nor Lingshan, but was one of those rebellious accomplices!

Just as he was about to make his move, a loud Buddhist chant rang out from the hell realm, the lowest level of the six realms of reincarnation.

"Junior brother, it's never too late to turn back from the wrong path!"

Although this chant no longer contained much Buddhist power, it penetrated directly into the heart of Huang Mei, causing the six realms of reincarnation to tremble and the Three Crossings River to surge violently, splashing water everywhere and even threatening to sweep across both banks.

Huang Mei was originally tasked with suppressing the Six Paths of Reincarnation. However, after being disturbed by the Buddhist chant, he had no choice but to divert his power to suppress it, and the pressure on Fahai suddenly weakened considerably.

But Fahai soon discovered that this was not only because Huang Mei was on duty, but also because he harbored malice and hatred ten times greater and a hundred times deeper than himself towards the owner of this voice.

Huang Mei, who had only given Fahai a sharp look, changed color upon hearing this voice and burst into laughter:

"Jin Chanzi, you have been suppressed by me for so many years, yet you still have strength left. Good, good, good!"

The person who spoke was none other than the monk Xuanzang, who traveled west to obtain Buddhist scriptures more than 800 years ago, Jin Chanzi from 300 years ago, and the Sandalwood Merit Buddha from 300 years ago. He was also the person Huang Mei hated the most and wanted to change the most in his life.

—Tang Sanzang!

Although the name of this Sandalwood Merit Buddha contains the word "merit," his cultivation throughout his life was all achieved through ascetic practices and enlightenment, and he never made any great vows.

After Xuanzang attained Buddhahood, he remained diligent and down-to-earth in his work of saving all sentient beings and teaching them, without ever resorting to any opportunistic behavior. This was due both to the resilience he had cultivated after enduring eighty-one tribulations, and to the fact that after attaining Buddhahood, Xuanzang had gained a clear understanding of his past lives and integrated the memories of Jin Chanzi and his nine previous incarnations.

The reason this venerable one before the Buddha was banished to the mortal world was because he opposed the path of cause and effect and vows. As a result, the World-Honored One chose him to be the one to face the calamity, just like the Bodhisattva Kinnara in the past, to enter the world to face the calamity for the Buddhist community and find a way to deal with karma.

The Buddha's solution was to directly address the system of celestial demons, first cutting off this factor that could contribute to karma, thus delaying the arrival of the great calamity.

If Mount Ling is likened to a company, then karma is the various debts they incur due to borrowing, with extremely high interest added on, causing the Buddha great distress.

His first solution was to resolve any potential business disputes with competitors, isolate the creditors, and then proceed gradually.

Of course, this method ultimately failed, and the main person in charge, Bodhisattva Kinnara, also joined the competition, changed his appearance, and turned against Mount Ling.

Following this failure, the spread of Buddhism has been severely restricted due to the Heavenly Court's surveillance, and they have even had to target those with fur and horns as missionaries.

Of course, this is not to say that these demons are bad, but compared to humans who are born with spiritual intelligence, investing in demons requires a large amount of capital and has a long return period.

Many Bodhisattvas and Buddhas of Lingshan are already facing the karmic retribution they are destined to receive, so naturally they are unwilling to undertake such projects.

However, the Buddha called on all colleagues to consider the company's interests and to implement a system of apportionment, requiring every Bodhisattva and Buddha with attained enlightenment to claim a mount and play a leading role within the company.

This is why demons roam freely at the foot of Mount Ling, and there is even a demon kingdom like Lion Camel Ridge. However, this is only a temporary solution.

In this situation, the Buddha came up with a second idea: to simply change the face of Buddhism—at least in the lower realms.

Although the Heavenly Court is keeping a close eye on Buddhism, they also have to deal with matters concerning the Jade Emperor, so they cannot attend to everything.

The Buddha meant that he would send Jin Chanzi down to the mortal world to re-establish Buddhism under the names of "Brahmanism," "Brahmanism," or even "The Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss" or "The White Lotus Sect," so as to attract scattered worshippers.

If Xu Xing knew, he would give him a very apt description: illegal fundraising.

Of course, the Buddha had a different perspective on Jin Chanzi.

He explained this as an innovative move, arguing that with the competition with the Heavenly Court intensifying and karmic debts pressing for repayment, the inheritance mechanism of the Buddhas of the past, present, and future was outdated and unable to cope with the current fierce competition.

Therefore, the Buddha decided to do something new at Mount Ling and carry out a series of sweeping reforms. However, as the leader of Mount Ling, he naturally could not act on a whim.

Therefore, before the official implementation, the Buddha needed manpower to conduct pilot projects in order to collect data, and Jin Chanzi was the person in charge of the pilot project he selected.

Jin Chanzi's previous nine incarnations were all engaged in this kind of work. In each incarnation, he would establish a sect known as "heretical" or "enemy of Buddhism" to collect the wishes of sentient beings and give back to Buddhism.

In the end, these sects were all wiped out by Mount Ling. In some lifetimes, Jin Chanzi even received funding from the Heavenly Court, which made his sects more prosperous and lasted longer.

However, karma is a great secret of Buddhism and must never be known to the Heavenly Court. There are also many opponents of this behavior within Mount Sumeru, such as Dipankara Buddha. Therefore, the achievements of these nine lifetimes cannot be made public.

When Jin Chanzi reincarnated into his tenth life, the Buddha discovered a problem: relying solely on such limited methods of increasing revenue and reducing expenditure could not fundamentally resolve karma. Therefore, he decided to take drastic measures and carry out bankruptcy reorganization of the company.

That is, to lead all Buddhas into Nirvana, so that their supernatural powers would not be manifest in the world, and they would be reborn again after thirty-three years.

Under these circumstances, Jin Chanzi's work naturally no longer needed to be carried out.

Therefore, the World-Honored One arranged the journey to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures, both to finally reap a harvest of faith from the Eastern Continent and to justify arranging a position for Jin Chanzi.

This is the truth behind the so-called eighty-one tribulations.

To facilitate the plan, the Buddha personally erased Jin Chanzi's memories with each reincarnation, so even Jin Chanzi himself was unaware of the whole story.

But Jin Chanzi was Jin Chanzi after all. Although he diligently conducted pilot projects in each of his lifetimes, he also engaged in ceaseless contemplation in his spare time.

It wasn't until Xuanzang attained Buddhahood that he connected his ten lifetimes, integrated all his thoughts, and arrived at his own conclusion.

The practice of vows based on cause and effect must never be widely followed.

To save all sentient beings and enlighten all beings, we must put our efforts into practice.

Since ancient times, although there is a saying that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas enter the world in various forms to experience eons, almost none of them have truly gone deep into the human world to relieve suffering and perform great compassion after they have become Buddhas and patriarchs.

Part of the reason for this was to evade the pursuit of the "Primordial Demon Ancestor," but the main reason lay in an imbalance of mentality.

Under the influence of karma, the Buddhas no longer regard all sentient beings as the true seeds of Buddha-nature, but rather as a burden that they desperately want to get rid of, yet cannot get rid of.

In Xuanzang's view, all Buddhas should indeed enter Nirvana, but even after reincarnation, they should not return to Mount Ling, but should once again serve as cattle and horses for sentient beings.

Huang Mei was unaware of Jin Chanzi's thoughts and simply regarded this senior brother as a lucky person favored by the World Honored One.

—What exactly is so difficult about the so-called eighty-one tribulations? If it were me, Huangmei, wouldn't I be the Sandalwood Merit Buddha?
Thinking of this, Huang Mei's hatred burned even brighter, and he said sharply:
"Jin Chanzi, you have been hiding for many years, and now you have actually exposed yourself for a monk with low cultivation. How unwise!"

Huang Mei was somewhat surprised when he sensed Jin Chanzi's Buddhist power—where did this guy get his power from?

But he quickly realized that although this fellow had been stripped of his supernatural powers and was left with only a mortal body, he had a great talent for preaching and expounding the Dharma.

Even though he was suppressed in the Hell Realm, Jin Chanzi managed to convert a group of ghosts into his followers through his words. If he had been imprisoned for a longer period of time, he might have escaped!
Thinking of this, Huang Mei broke out in a cold sweat.

He knew that Wutian valued this disciple of the World Honored One, who was also a "person destined for tribulation," and if he let Jin Chanzi leave, he feared that he would only be destined for eternal damnation.

—It's alright, it's alright.

Thinking of this, Huang Mei laughed again and shook his head, saying:
"It seems I have no choice but to temporarily cast you into the cycle of reincarnation."

Xuanzang said calmly:
"I was originally an ordinary person who became a Buddha, so why should I be afraid of becoming an ordinary person again?"

Huang Mei was about to speak when he suddenly realized something was wrong. His expression changed drastically again, and he exclaimed in alarm:

"who are you?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, dozens of different types of Dao energy, Buddhist light, fist intent, sword energy, and more than a hundred kinds of magic treasures exploded from behind Huang Mei.

These sudden attacks converged in one place, their force overwhelming, surpassing even the Sanzu River that runs through the Netherworld. They surged down like a celestial river, completely engulfing the Dharma body that guarded the Netherworld!
The ones who made the move were none other than the various Ancestral Star Immortals and Gods who had been sent here by Xu Xing and had remained hidden until now! (End of Chapter)